Feeding the 5000

Intro

I struggled this week with what to share with you guys tonight. I like sharing out of what I get out of my personal Bible reading but this week I read the end of Exodus and I didn’t think learning how to make golden lamp stands, and priestly clothes would do you guys much good. So I do what I always do when I don’t know what to do. Not just in sharing God’s word with you but in every area of my life and I turned to Jesus. I love marvelling and looking deeper and something awesome Jesus did. and the story that kept jumping out at me was when Jesus fed the 5000.

A story you have heard if you grew up in church. if not the title gives away what happens but there is so much in this story for us today. This was a big deal to the disciples. It is the only miracle other than the resurrection to be recorded in all 4 Gospels. so lets try to figure out why this miracle in particular stuck out to so many and how we can grow stronger in our faith because of it.

John 6:1–9 ESV

After this Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias. And a large crowd was following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing on the sick. Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples. Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand. Lifting up his eyes, then, and seeing that a large crowd was coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?” He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he would do. Philip answered him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread would not be enough for each of them to get a little.” One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many?”

So Jesus and his disciples are at the peek of their popularity the disciples have just returned from a preaching tour and they are exhausted. So Jesus and disciples go out into the middle of nowhere to relax. but people hear about it maybe they left their live 360 I don’t know but the crowd found them.

The people in Galilee where Jesus was were different from the people in the south who he had been teaching to. Those people had more intellectual concerns. They were looking at the prophecies and they were wrestling with what Jesus was saying about the law. the people in Galilee didnt care about that stuff as much. They were peasant farmers they cared more about down to earth matters like where their food was going to come from.

So what does Jesus do for them a miracle about food. and he did it near passover. at the time the people thought he was going to save them from captivity of another nation like Moses did. and here is about to give the multitudes break like Moses did with manna but in a way that exceeds the miracle of manna to show how he did not come to be like Moses. Moses was actually a pale reflection of the type of savior that Jesus came to be.

So these poor people over 10,000 of them come up to Jesus and he doesn’t panic. He actually uses this to test the disciple’s faith.

He asks Phillip where are we going to buy bread for everyone? He asked Phillip because he was actually from the closest town. If anyone would have known if there was a natural way to feed everyone it was Phillip. But Phillip knew there was no Chickfila near by and even if there were it would cost 8 months wages for everyone to get one bite.

Phillip did what so many of us do. He looked at the human dilemma, considered only his resourced and pronounced the situation hopeless.

1. We do not determine what is possible Jesus does.

Philipp saw the problem and immediately went into figuring out how he could accomplish the task that Jesus asked him about. like Jesus needed his input. Jesus already knew what he was going to do He already knew the miracle was coming. He wasnt looking to see if Phillip was smart enough or resourceful enough to solve the problem. He wanted to see if Phillip was going to trust Him with the problem.

Jesus was all enough to fill every need even when his disciples were in confusion. And he is still enough for us to fill every need even when we are in confusion and dont know what to do. He is enough.

We are all gifted in different ways, we all have different resources. But Jesus doesn’t need you to reach a certain level in your gifting or resources before he can use you to fill a need for someone or yourself, or do something incredible for his kingdom. he just needs you to put more faith in him to solve the problem than you have in your own ability to solve the problem. Put your faith in him. I can’t promise you that everything will always work out the way you want it but I can promise you that your problems are way better in his hands than your hands. We are about to see proof of that.

John 6:10–13 ESV

Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, about five thousand in number. Jesus then took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated. So also the fish, as much as they wanted. And when they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, “Gather up the leftover fragments, that nothing may be lost.” So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves left by those who had eaten.

2. A little in Jesus’ hands is better than everything in your hands.

5 Barley loaves. and two fish. Barley bread was the bread of the poor. So this boy likely didnt have a surplus of food back home. and yet he gave his cheep lunch of poor people bread and cold fish to Jesus.

Moses’ staff, Sampson’s donkey jawbone, Davids sling. This kid’s off brand lunchable. all show that seemingly useless things can become important in Jesus’ hands. Jesus does the miracle not because the disciples found enough resources, but because they put what they had in Jesus’ hands.

How often have you thought I cant give this or that to God because you are young and don’t have a lot. I cant tithe because I make $12 an hour. i cant give up any of that. I cant give a week of my summer to getting closer to God at camp. Its not very long. I cant wake up 15 minutes earlier to spend time with God I need that sleep cause I stayed up late playing games. I cant give up a relationship with someone who doesnt push me to glorify God, what if I never find another one.

We are not called to give to God out of our abundance. If you wait to give God your time, money, your relationships, once you feel like you have enough to throw some back to him you will never give the God who gave you His Son anything.

When he shows us time and time again that if we will place what we have in His hands he will do far more with it than we ever could.

Basketball example.

Do not wait to see if you have something left and then give it to God. Give him your time, money, energy, and relationships first. Dont wait till the day you are satisfied with what you have because if you aren’t walking with Jesus that day will never come.

Ten cent tithe example.

trust him the little you have. You will never regret giving back to God what he has given you.

John 6:14–15 ESV

When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, “This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!” Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself.

Imagine you are in the crowd. You are poor. The issue that you care about is, where is my family’s meal coming from. Then you watch someone feed over 10,000 people with a lunchable and there 12 full baskets left over. which symbolizes that Jesus is enough for all 12 tribes of Israel. Id freak out we would all freak out. we would want to follow him. They certainly all had faith in that moment. but they didn’t understand why Jesus did what they did so they tried to force him to become king of an earthly kingdom.

3. Jesus chose God’s kingdom over an earthly Kingdom.

What the people wanted to do was the same thing satan offered him when he was tempted. Come accept the political route to a kingdom, bypass the cross and have your kingdom. Jesus knew why he came and it wasn’t to make Israel great again and it wasn’t about doing miracles it was about saving all of us from death once and for all.

He could have become the greatest king of the greatest empire of all time, but he chose the cross. He chose the spiritual over the physical because one is fleeting and the other is eternal.

Jesus fed 10,000 people but guess what the next day they were all hungry again. and everyone who was there except for Jesus is long dead. So what was the point? He met their physical needs so he could meet their spiritual needs. He fed them so he could teach them about the bread of life that would never leave them hungry. He fed them so they would know that he was all they needed to sustain them not just physically but spiritually. He always kept what was actually important first.

So often we do the opposite. We spend all our time trying to build our own brands, our own influence, our own kingdoms when we have been called to something far more important.

We arent called to self improvement to build our kingdoms.

We are called to self surrender so that we can play a part in building God’s kingdom because it is the only thing that we can build that will last forever.

Resit the temptation to build your kingdom at all costs. Stop looking for ways around giving your life to Jesus the way he gave his life for you. Surrender to Him. Say yes to building God’s kingdom and run from those that tell you becoming comfortable for the next 60 years is all that matters. Stay focused on the kingdom of God.

Conclusion

Are you facing a situation where you are looking at your resources, skills, and energy and dont know what to do? trust Jesus with it.

I want to encourage you tonight to give what little you have to Jesus. Because he can do way more with it than you can. He can do more with your dime, more with your 10 minutes, more with your relationship than you ever could. What is ordinary in your hands can become extrodinary in his hands. give it to him.

Choose to put God’s kingdom over your kingdom every day.

Feeding the 5000

1.We do not determine what’s possible Jesus does

2. A little in Gods hands is better than anything in your hands

3. Jesus chose Gods kingdom over an earthly kingdom

Questions

Can you think of any times you thought God couldn’t do anything in your life because of the resources you had available?

What are the things in your life that you have held back that you need to give to Jesus?

What are some things you can do to keep your focus on Gods kingdom?